That last part is what reminded me of my days on the PS3, in a world where my video games didn’t bother with holding my hand as much as the ones on offer today do. My protagonists weren’t as chatty, often suffering alongside me as we tried to figure out a way forward in a game that stubbornly stood in our way. Of course, I was never truly alone, as the internet was always at my side, helping me find other players who were there for the very same reason. Crimson Desert brought it all back, making me do something I hadn’t done in years: I had a device close at hand with Google readily available as I made my way across Pywel.

It’s a special callback to the days of engaging with a community of players, exchanging solutions to problems we were facing while giving our fellow players who managed to offer those solutions the respect and validation they were due. Pywel reminds me of a time when even single-player adventures could have online communities form around them and thrive, their players always ready to lend a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on when things got too difficult.

Crimson Desert makes every Greymane who’s playing it a part of the adventure. But how has it managed to do that in a world where games such as this one can largely be enjoyed alone? Join me as I take you through the multiple tabs this one has made me keep open in my brain as I play it.

A Sense Of Mystery and Intrigue

I kind of found it odd to be playing a game that had me look up guides this quickly after Elden Ring gave me a humbling reminder that all of my snooping skills weren’t enough for me to see everything The Lands Between had to show me. But here we are, a few years later, courtesy of how jealously Pywel chose to guard its secrets. It’s not because its puzzles and secrets were broken, but because they were just there, with very opaque clues and the game refusing to whisper helpfully in my ear as other titles do.

So many games from back in the day had me doing this, and those guides were indeed the inspiration for me to write about video games today. Skyrim immediately comes to mind, which was so thoroughly overwhelming with its systems that I needed to make sense of it all by asking players with more experience. Any of the Souls games at that point were the same, and I’d say they continue to be a gold standard when it comes to hiding secrets. All of these titles made each playthrough a research project, funded by a sense of curiosity and fuelled by an intrigue so deep it kept any potential fatigue at bay.

But Crimson Desert comes pretty damn close to that same feeling, and Pywel’s sheer size had me convinced that taking a bit of help with this one was going to be a good idea in the long run. But that isn’t an indicator of a game’s challenge, isn’t it? The puzzles tab joins the walkthrough tab as the second one, feeding me a stream of thoughts every time I dove back into Crimson Desert for a jaunt through Pywel.

They’re the hardest part of the game in my opinion, and that’s after trying to take on the boss of Karin Quarry with the gear I began the game with, unaware of the magic of Abyss Gears. I hadn’t even met Hornsplitter at that point. But if you’ve been up to The Abyss through any of the Spires, you know that even getting the damn door to open is an uphill task. It took me right back to Prince of Persia (2008), a game that had you accompanied by a very knowledgeable companion, but one who was as beat as you were when it came to its puzzles.

Skyrim is another example, as are so many of the puzzles from Zelda. A more recent example would be last year’s Hell Is Us, a game that had me taking as many notes as I could while trying to pay attention to what was being said. But that’s just one new game versus so many from the PS3 era that were real head-scratchers. It’s good that Crimson Desert took that route, as the land of Pywel is able to really grab your attention with its air of mystery and wonder.

Call me crazy, but there is pleasure in trying to piece together a solution, my brain coming at a problem from a multitude of angles before I finally swallow a slice of humble pie and look up a solution online. I kind of like feeling a little stupid when I see a solution that was staring me right in the face. I’m laughing with you at the fact that I totally missed the memory of seeing somebody stab those pillars you use to rotate puzzle pieces, but I’m dying on the inside when I think of the two hours I spent trying to figure that out, my knowledge of the skill tree more decidedly biased towards my Axiom abilities at that point.

It’s something that used to be normal, a facet of gaming that I’d grown to miss after it became as rare as it has. But Crimson Desert brought it back. But there are more tabs open for us to click on.

The Fear Of Failure

The first two tabs that Crimson Desert has opened up for me dealt with problems I knew existed. But what about the ones I didn’t know of? Or know about but hadn’t encountered yet? They opened up two new tabs, both fuelled by an anxiety that I was going to break the game by exploring too much of it, a sentiment that only grew as I tackled quest after quest from Hernand’s residents.

And as with all anxiety, it helps to know you’re not alone. I found myself scrolling the game’s subreddit in my spare time, finding so many other kindred spirits who were worried about something they couldn’t yet solve, or perhaps excited about things that they’d seen on the forum. I was firmly in the latter camp after watching somebody use Kliff’s fists to devastating effect, which made me promptly load up my save to check out Unarmed attacks and their skills.

I’ve met people as obsessed with the game as I am, which invokes fond memories of playing Skyrim for the first time, or posting rants about Souls bosses and having other players agree while people who’d beat the boss shared useful advice and tips. I’ve beaten so many bosses based on recommendations from my peers over the years, and I tip my hat to those helpful folks. Crimson Desert brought collective discovery back again and made it really cool, too.

There’s also the tab that wonders about the consequences of my actions. You’re probably aware of the Fruit of Life at this point, and if you’re not, just DON’T pick it up until the story tells you to. I learned that the hard way after I picked it up, the sense that it looked important prompting me to take a break and learn from my fellow Greymanes that I had just bricked a quest. I considered a new playthrough, but after 80 hours of diligent exploring, I’ve since decided to eat the loss and watch a YouTube video instead.

All of the PS3 era games I’ve talked about had that sense of a first playthrough being one where you learn the ropes, and your second one being the full experience, where you come at the game armed with all the knowledge of its system you need to make it work in your favor. You tested its boundaries and learned from them the hard way before joining the community and obsessively looking up discourse around the game. Well, my phone’s screen time has seen a drastic uptick since Crimson Desert came out, and it isn’t a coincidence.

Its magic comes not from certainty, but from the possibilities Pywell offers to those who look to conquer it instead of merely exploring it. Which brings me to the final couple of tabs in my brain when I play it.

Stubborn and Proud Greymanes

Conquering Pywel is a great initiative, but executing that in Crimson Desert’s early days was quite the challenge. It’s pre-release, and release builds had their own problems, and yet, the gaming community persevered through it all, belting out solutions to tackle both the game’s challenges while also trying to solve individual problems. I got my legendary horse after a very helpful tip that made the entire taming mini-game a whole lot easier than trying to tilt my thumb stick away from the wild horse as it tried to throw me off.

Yet another video guide helped me solve a puzzle that a text-based one couldn’t, thanks to the description going above my head and not really helping me find what I was looking for. On another occasion, I was convinced that I was locked out of completing an important Abyss puzzle, the one that would allow me to begin using elemental attacks. I spent a lot of time looking up different ideas until the suggestion to just visit my camp and try to find lost items there finally pointed me in the right direction. The Frost Mantle is a very important part of my take on Kliff now.

It’s probably easy to tell that Crimson Desert has become an obsession of mine at this point. I take that as a compliment, as the final tab the game has open in my brain is one that’s just a banner of flashbacks to a time when I was more curious and less efficient in my games, a heady combination that could lead to disaster (looking at you, Witcher 3) just as often as it could lead to incredible moments. The hours spent on that high-level early boss in Nioh 2 immediately come to mind.

Pywel doesn’t just transport me to another reality from time to time. It sends me several years back into my own, when I could pull an all-nighter on a game that deserved it. But my bedtime is stricter now, and life gets in the way of most games. But for the few ones out there like Crimson Desert and its inspirations, I’m happy to trade a little shut-eye for the chance to feel like I’m back in the PS3 era of games again. And that, perhaps, is its greatest achievement.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Patch 1.03.00 is available and includes the ability to toggle the display of weapons. Damiane and Oongka now have access to Axiom Force and Nature’s Snare, previously exclusive to Kilff, but that’s not all. Shield Toss and Scatter Shot will now have the same effect as Force Palm. Furthermore, the Bank will remain available, even if you have the Wanted status – just don’t expect to deposit Gold bars or make investments. They can only let so much slide.

The camp in Pailune now offers expanded farm and ranch areas, and you can access “key NPCs” more easily. Abyss Nexuses are easier to discover; Abyss puzzles have a host of quality of life improvements; and oh, there’s a new loading screen track. In fact, Pearl Abyss even added three new music tracks for combat, though they won’t play in the desert or certain areas. And if that wasn’t enough, support for Intel Arc GPUs and Intel XeSS 3.0 is now live.

Check out some of the patch notes below and full details here. A hotfix is also live, though it only offers a handful of fixes, like projectiles ricocheting or disappearing with Nature’s Snare.

Patch Notes Version 1.03.00

Content

• Improved the usability of the Greymane camp.
• Improved the accessibility of key NPCs in Pailune camp.
• Expanded the farm and ranch areas in Pailune camp.
• Improved overall convenience of Pailune camp.
• Fixed issues that occurred when completing certain requests while being in the ‘wanted’ status.
• Fixed the following issues that could occur when Pailune was liberated while in a wanted state in Chapter 7.
• Fixed an issue where the bounty was displayed as 0.
• Fixed an issue where certain comrade dispatches were unavailable.
• Fixed an issue where bank investment funds were not updated.
• Improved standard dialogue scenes without letterboxing so that fast-forwarding is now available.
• Added a Fast Forward Speed option under Other > Language & Gameplay, allowing players to adjust fast-forward speed.
• Improved Abyss Nexuses so that they are easier to discover.
• Improved convenience for certain Abyss puzzles.
• Improved clarity so that it is easier to recognize when certain gimmicks are available to be attached by using ‘Force Palm’.
• Improved lanterns and ‘Blinding Flash’ so that they provide more hints.
• Improved the entrance path to the Spire of Soaring.
• Improved terrain in certain Abyss locations.
• Changed bank functionality while being in the ‘wanted’ status so that bank services remain available, but depositing gold bars and updating investment funds are no longer possible.
• Fixed an issue where requests could not be completed at a certain step when destroying the totems after completing Chapter 9, ‘Sanctum of Mortification’.
• Fixed an issue where certain requests could not be completed if related quest items were obtained before the request was activated.
• Fixed an issue where Gunter (Equipment vendor), Harry (Blacksmith), Bronton (Stablekeep), and Lola (Seamstress) in Pailune would be replaced by different NPCs after a certain quest.
• Added 3 new base music tracks across the continent of Pywel during combat (The
• Crimson Desert and certain other regions excluded) during [Patch 1.01.00].
• Added 1 new loading screen music track.

Then there’s re-blockading – an answer to the lack of enemies to kill in the late-game. Any liberated locations are at risk of hostiles attacking again, thus requiring your intervention once more. And if you’re worried that the game has become too easy, then three difficulty settings – Easy, Normal and Hard – are also being added.

Interestingly, the developer touted “new combat-focused content” as being in the works. Perhaps that faction wars feature that many hoped for? Time will tell.

However, you can look forward to new skills for Damiane and Oongka, which should play a similar role to Kliff’s Force Palm and Axiom Force. The option to hide weapons on the back of a character is also on the way. Another nice addition is that outfits that only served to be sold or donated will soon become wearable, thus expanding one’s cosmetic options. Whether that includes “damaged” gear remains to be seen.

Also, while it expanded the storage chest up to 1,000 slots, Pearl Abyss is adding more specialized storage for ingredients, a wardrobe for gear, and even a place to deposit all the ores, insects, and other resources used in crafting. You’ll even have something to deposit recipes and other quest items, further freeing up space without the need to sell them.

Additional pets and mounts are on the way, and you can expect more armor sets for them as well. In terms of UI improvements, an option to adjust the minimum font size will be implemented, and you’ll also have the option to customize controller inputs. And if all that wasn’t enough, the quality of distant scenery is getting a major upgrade.

Of course, that alone could fit into its own patch, which means not everything will be in a singular package. Pearl Abyss didn’t provide a release date for all these features, so expect them to roll out over the coming months.

Crimson Desert is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s sold over four million units to date.

So believe me when I say that it feels a little bad to point out something that really breaks the game. No, not in a fun, boss-deleting way like infinite explosive arrows, but a major design flaw. What makes it even crazier is that you won’t notice it until you’re already dozens of hours in.

Assume, for a moment, that you’re not a permanent resident of Hernand who knows everyone in Howling Hill Camp better than your own family. Imagine that you’ve been traveling throughout Pywel, liberating quarries, taking down the Lunar Court, cleansing Sanctums (and taking on their various Blades), and sending the Black Bears packing. With each new location returned to the nicer factions, the world becomes that much safer. However, it also becomes emptier.

What does that mean? Well, in a nutshell, enemies that you’ve slain or simply driven away by prolonged butchery of their allies don’t respawn. That’s the so-called game-breaking design bug. Enemies stop respawning.

And I’ll be honest – it didn’t really hit me at first. Why should enemies respawn, especially after clearing out bandit crawls and other hives of scum and villainy? If I’m systemically hunting the Black Bears, why would they stick together? Heck, they thought they annihilated the Greymanes in the beginning, so what better karma than to see them so thoroughly purged, including any enemies that should patrol the world. But what does that mean in a game like Crimson Desert, where combat is one of the core appeals?

Think about it. As you’re collecting Abyss Artifacts, what’s one of the biggest thrills? Unlocking a new skill and trying it out, especially if it’s a combat skill. How about unlocking a new piece of gear or weapon? Or discovering the four elements? Sure, there’s more than enough exploration, and several systems to facilitate that, but for the most part, the entire purpose of that is to obtain cool stuff, either for the sake of personal upgrades or wiping out enemies in even more extravagant ways. Trying out different builds is another major appeal, especially when you start slotting different ability cores into the same weapon.

Without any enemies to fight, that’s one major aspect of the power fantasy removed. It gets even worse when factoring in the Sealed Abyss Artifacts. Not all 141 of them require combat to unlock, but there are still plenty that do. If you’re lucky, you would have completed Trials like defeating five enemies with a shield without taking damage, or slaying 30 enemies within 30 seconds with a spear, and not lack any targets for assassinating five sleeping enemies at night, or taking out an elite using only guns.

Speaking of guns, this is a great time to discuss Damiane and Oongka. I’ve mentioned this before in my qualms with the progression – how you need separate Abyss Artifacts to upgrade their skills. Toss in gear and even with the new Refinement Tokens, it becomes extremely challenging to min-max both characters alongside Kliff, much less experiment with their builds. If you decided to leave playing as them until the late game (which you’ll probably do, given the lack of resources), then there’s an absolute lack of enemies to fight. And there goes any reason to really bother with these other unique characters.

Of course, it’s not like there isn’t other stuff to do. You could challenge different optional bosses (albeit only once), complete various puzzles, or attend a whole range of activities that don’t require any combat. However, this kind of issue is one that other open-world games solved years – heck, some more than a decade – before. As much as we make fun of the Radiant quests in Skyrim and Fallout 4, the fact that they’re even present means no shortage of combat encounters. And once again, Crimson Desert is a game where combat is the backbone. Take out any reason for players to fight anything, and as many have noted, it goes from being an open-world action-adventure to simply an open-world adventure.

Now, there are several ways that the development team could address this. The short-term solution is to simply allow enemies to recapture camps, forts, and whatnot, forcing the player to liberate them again, and that’s a decent band-aid. However, some have suggested a more detailed faction wars system. Imagine the dozens of different factions battling each other for supremacy, and Kliff being able to ally or go against each of them for unique benefits. It may even provide an incentive to use the Mission Dispatch for sending Greymanes to different fronts. Considering the sheer number of factions, it’s kind of surprising that Crimson Desert didn’t ship with this already.

Granted, this could mess with the Contributions system (not to mention the whole thing about Kliff and his crew being morally good), but it certainly creates a whole lot more intrigue than simply, “The good guys won, the bad guys disappeared, the end.” It’s something that probably could have been more easily justifiable if there were more morally grey factions to work with, rather than strictly good/evil groups, but I digress.

Another, more straightforward fix is to introduce New Game Plus. All your Abyss Artifacts, equipment, money, skills, inventory, and Howling Hill Camp upgrades carry over to a new playthrough. The entire map becomes available to liberate once more, and while you can still use any unlocked mounts, special exceptions like Blackstar require playing through the story again. Besides tougher foes, the developers could spice things up by introducing modifiers, perhaps even new attacks or late-game enemies appearing much earlier. Otherwise, add some new activities that players can engage with ad nauseam for their combat needs. A horde mode. Boss rush. A siege mode. Mission replay. The list goes on.

Some may argue that the current system is fine – it’s a video game after all, one that already provides hundreds of hours of entertainment. Why do you need it to last forever? Of course, this isn’t what anyone is arguing – simply that if there’s content, much less an entire combat system, that hinges on fighting regular enemies, then gradually removing said threats as you progress doesn’t make any kind of sense. I don’t always need challenging encounters to limit-test my end-game build. Sometimes, I just want to let loose against a crowd of jabronis and watch them fly amid the explosions. Why deny someone that simple pleasure? Furthermore, why give them all these optional challenges via Sealed Abyss Artifacts and then not even give them the means to complete them?

Once again, there are multiple ways that the development team could approach this issue, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were already working on something to address it. That’s one benefit of speaking up and letting them know about Crimson Desert’s shortcomings – sooner or later, it will do something, creating a better experience for everyone. And really, that’s all anyone can really ask for.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The video, which you can check out below, shows off the fact that the curvature of the game’s world was modelled, and is visible from space. Along with this, the atmosphere of the planet also seems visible. Looking beyond the planet, it looks like the Milky Way galaxy can be seen in the distance, with many stars dotting the otherwise-black emptiness of space.

Social media user NikTek has uploaded another video showcasing how players can get into space. The process involves using an Infinite Stamina mod for the PC release of Crimson Desert and spamming aerial attacks to gain minor elevation levels with every attack. NikTek has noted that this is a slow process, and the endeavour will likely take players several hours.

“It took quite some time, but once you go high enough, you can see what looks to be the Earth’s atmosphere,” they wrote. “The Milky Way is clearly visible, and I also did a short timelapse while I was there.”

Interestingly, it also looks like developer Pearl Abyss may have even modelled some re-entry effects in case players ever got into space and wanted to head back to land. However, NikTek has noted that the re-entry’s visual effect—showing protagonist Kliff beginning to burn as he starts his descent—might have just been a visual oddity with strange interactions from the in-game lantern.

“When free-falling, Kliff also looks like he’s doing an atmospheric entry as he looks like he is catching fire. I don’t know exactly if this effect was intentional or not, as my lantern was on,” they wrote.

While this could have just been an example of some incredible dedication to add levels of detail that most players would never see, it is also possible that Pearl Abyss has greater plans for Crimson Desert. As NikTek has noted, this could hint towards a potential future DLC, or even an entire game that revolves around space travel.

Since its release last month, Crimson Desert has been quite successful for Pearl Abyss. The studio had confirmed that it had sold 4 million copies worldwide. A more recent report has indicated that the game might have made $200 million in revenue since its launch. According to Alinea Analytics, the PS5 version of Crimson Desert has led in terms of generating revenue, having made the company almost $75 million.

Crimson Desert is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Pearl Abyss has continued to support it with post-launch updates. Take a look at our thoughts on the most stand-out features of these updates.

To that end, Patch 1.02.00, which is now live, isn’t as loaded with improvements and new features, but it’s still a close second. Let’s dive into all the major changes and how they’ll affect your experience, starting with the biggest addition…

More Storage Chest Slots

The addition of a Storage Chest is one that fans (and reviewers) craved, and the development team answered in kind just a few days later. It even had the courtesy to move it to Kliff’s tent so that you’re not awkwardly maneuvering past Karl to access it, but soon enough, everyone came to the same realization – 240 slots were nowhere near enough.

Thankfully, the developer agreed and decided to up the maximum amount not by double or triple but almost quadruple. That’s right – you can now have 1000 slots in the Storage Chest, which means even more room for all those armor sets, weapons, ingredients, trading goods that you swear you’ll sell off, ores, stolen items, and whatnot.

But there is a slight caveat – it’s tied to your expansion of the Howling Hill Camp. You’ll now start with 240 slots, which increases by 100 slots for each expansion, culminating in the final upgrade, giving you a whopping 360 additional slots. A good way to incentivize pursuing more space and retroactively reward those who paid attention to their camp.

Basic and Classic Controls

Personally, I liked the addition of holding the sprint button instead of constantly tapping it, but it created some issues with mounts. Instead of periodically pressing it for a short burst of speed, after which it would recover, the stamina meter drained to zero by simply holding the button for a bit. Some preferred tapping to sprint for the additional control.

Thus, a compromise was born with this update, adding Basic and Classic movement. The former is your hold-to-sprint option while the latter involves repeatedly pressing the button. However, the best part is when using mounts. Holding sprint with Basic controls will now consume stamina at set intervals instead of all in one go, but if you want to dictate those intervals, then Classic consumes it every time you press the sprint key. It’s truly a brave new world.

And that doesn’t even go into all the other little movement improvements. You can now fast travel to an Abyss Nexus plate while moving “slightly.” Granted, it still doesn’t work when mounted or gliding, but it’s a start, and the developer plans to expand this to allow fast traveling on “certain mounts.”

However, all of that pales in comparison, at least for me, to the gliding change. Instead of tapping the jump button again in mid-air and holding it, you can keep it pressed to activate a glide. No more awkwardly trying to activate glide after a triple Force Palm jump, wondering why you even bothered, and I couldn’t be happier.

Headgear Visibility

The fashion game is just as important as any other endgame activity, especially in an experience as dense as this. Unfortunately, there’s still no transmog system, so you can’t have the look of certain armor sets and clothing while retaining the stats of another underneath, but there’s a meaningful step forward: Headgear visibility.

I’ll be honest: As much as I like the Blackwing Mask, sometimes going “caw” while conversing with the townsfolk (they never say it back), I wanted an option to hide it, if only to remember what the top half of Kliff’s head looked like. Lo and behold, it’s finally here, and you can choose between having headgear always show, stay hidden in cutscenes, only show up in combat or always remain concealed.

There’s even more to come, with the developer planning to add a feature to hide the weapons on a character’s back, which should make for less awkward running about with a Banner Pike on your back.

More Graphical Improvements and Features

All platforms have seen improved quality in FSR Frame Generation and upscaling quality. Meanwhile, DLSS RR users should no longer see their GPU memory usage increasing when it’s enabled. It also doesn’t hurt that certain elements, such as foliage, which looked off with ray-traced reflections while using FSR-RR or DLSS-RR, have been fixed, and there should be less stuttering overall.

On the console side, Xbox Series X players can now enable 4K upscaling in Performance Mode. Meanwhile, PS5 Pro owners can take advantage of Upgraded PSR Sharpen and Upgraded PSSR Native AA in Quality Mode. This is in addition to several other improvements to stability and performance, including a fix for a bug that caused V-Sync to change when hitting the Home button on Xbox.

Even More Little Touches

There are several other bug fixes worth mentioning, such as Double Boost, a horse ability, now working properly, or bosses no longer teleporting to Narnia in the middle of a battle. You should also find jumping to be more responsive after an attack, and viewing details of Abyss nodes in the map screen should no longer reset a puzzle – something I didn’t know could happen and am now thankful that I never had to learn about the hard way.

However, there’s even more to look forward to, such as a new armor set and helmet for cats – a much-welcome feature for those focused on feline fashion sense. Pailune also now has a dedicated Abyss Nexus. You don’t have to choose between teleporting to the Abyss Cresset to the north or south anymore, and while it requires activation, you can’t miss it. The UI has seen further improvements, such as sellable items in shops now being prioritized on display, and the minimap’s scale no longer resetting when sprinting at full speed on a mount.

There are even separate menus for Save Game and Load Game. In answer to mishaps where players meant to load instead of save while, say, rerolling for the perfect Abyss Gear or bank investment? Who can say but you also have labels for slots. This is especially great when loading saves, since you can now clearly distinguish between auto and manual saves. Again, it’s a little thing, but one that’s still appreciated.

Some features are still a mystery – I don’t know what changing the “designs of certain gimmick monsters” necessarily entails, though I’m sure more detailed comparisons will become available. I’m also not the biggest fan of Aerial Roll now canceling Focus during Flight, because Unleash doesn’t give the speed boost that I so dearly enjoyed. I’m also still keen to see what it does with the dragon mount timers (an option to at least unsummon Blackstar, rather than waiting for the timer to expire, would go a long way).

But just like previous updates, this one reaffirms the development team’s commitment to improving Crimson Desert as quickly as possible. With four million copies sold thus far, it certainly has enough pressure to keep up the momentum. Lest we forget, the global launch was over two weeks ago, and the team has been working seemingly around the clock to address any issues, while also responding to feedback and fitting in numerous suggestions. Heck, it even looked at feedback from those who didn’t like the sprinting changes and addressed that as well.

That kind of approach doesn’t just show its ability to cater to those praising the game but also to players critical of it. Where it could go next with updates remains to be seen, but for now, it’s a heck of a ride.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Of course, it heard those complaints, loud and clear, and went about nerfing certain bosses and enemies. Attacks that massively chunked stamina while blocking are now far more manageable – from the storm that is approaching to hard knocks on a wooden board.

Which isn’t the worst thing in theory. It felt a little odd to be taking so much damage pre-launch, barely finding windows to attack because everyone possessed an ultimate attack with invincibility throughout. And that was even while keeping up with upgrading my gear, the tedium of mining ores and chopping trees mixing with the real joy that is exploration and uncovering various nooks and corners.

However, the development team went even further and decided to further sand off the rough edges. Gliding? Now much easier thanks to lower stamina consumption. Resources? Far more plentiful, as chests containing the same could be discovered while exploring. Players discovered more tech for getting around faster, which went hand in hand with the gliding changes to make it far easier to collect Abyss Artifacts and Abyss Cressets – seriously, go to the Crimson Desert, they’re just waiting around. Which meant that even if you hit a wall with Abyss Artifacts required for upgrades, well, you would have plenty on hand. Even the new Refinement Tokens made it so that any gear that you discovered could be quickly leveled up to become viable.

So, with how much more seamless it is to explore the furthest reaches of Pywel, gather resources for upgrades, and even research how to obtain all the best gear, some players have taken the seemingly logical next step: Asking for difficulty options. One proposition involved making the game even more challenging on Hard mode than it was at launch, effectively creating a “survival” mode of sorts. That would mean long cooldowns on some of the best food, the removal of question marks on the map, fewer Palmer Pills, and so on.

The idea is a weird tightrope because while players feel like they’re overpowered – which is rich, considering the number of posts about spending 50-plus hours and still being in Hernand – they also like being overpowered. While there is the joke about taking a break from a boss and exploring for 10 hours, only to come back and curbstomp it, I don’t think there’s any amount of balancing that could really address that.

Others feel it’s the friction that gave Crimson Desert its true challenge, whether it’s being gated by the progression or taking more time to get around. Which is funny, given how many more positive reviews and players it received on Steam since the last two major patches.

I think it comes down to admitting a couple of hard truths about the boss fights – that, despite how challenging they may be, some of them just don’t feel all that enjoyable. I won’t name and shame specific offenders (*cough* Hexe *cough*), but for all the bosses that inevitably stood out, there were a few that felt like they could use a bit more Q&A. Less invincibility windows, more attacks that actually feel good to punish when you actually avoid them.

One also has to realize that in a game like this, it’s the player who really defines the difficulty. Look at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You could effectively beeline it to the final boss from the start with only three hearts if you so chose, ignoring the rest of the world. Whether you actually reached it or not is a different story, but you very well could (and there are plenty who have). Crimson Desert isn’t exactly like that – progressing through the story is a must for reaching the big bad, yet the actual game revolves around the larger world.

As you complete requests, stab through waterfalls, mine materials, and discover new ones, Kliff will passively unlock the means to become stronger. Even if you’re not actively seeking any Abyss Artifacts, a little meter on the side will fill up with every kill, awarding one when it reaches completion. The only real way to challenge yourself is to ignore it, and honestly, going down that path of not using certain things just for the sake of some difficulty can be a thorny one. Where do you stop to hit that sweet spot of challenge?

Let’s not forget that even Breath of the Wild implemented a Master Mode at the end of the day, introducing a tougher tier of enemies, buffing the already existing foes, and even tossing more serious threats into early game environments. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility for Crimson Desert, and I don’t see the developer locking it behind paid DLC. Maybe for New Game Plus, if players are lucky.

But introducing level scaling, ensuring that every enemy matches your own? I don’t think that’s the right path towards a more challenging experience. When you’re motivated to engage with the world and rewarded in either slight increments of power or strong new tools, it just feels annoying to see your enemies leveling up for free. Besides, it kind of interferes with one thing that many enjoy about the combat, namely, the ability to wreck crowds. The progression also needs some reworking because entering a new region and exploring it to find materials that would inevitably go into upgrading your current loadout is part of the fun. Having stronger enemies may be ideal for some to “test” their broken builds on, but after what point does it just feel ridiculous to see random Demenissian Guard A get up after taking multiple Explosive Arrows to the face?

Of course, it’s still early days for Crimson Desert. Despite launching about two weeks ago, it’s been in discourse for what feels like years at this point. There are still several other areas that need improvement, numerous mechanics that could be further iterated. As much as I see the development team wanting to address every bit of feedback for those currently playing, there’s something about taking the time and really working through what it wants to do with the game. The bigger picture, so to speak.

In the meantime, players should enjoy the current cycle as much as possible – fighting monsters and inevitably turning Kliff into one that can either tank the heaviest of blows or roast bosses with a single combo. That in itself can be a catharsis for many, even at the cost of the few who seek a higher challenge.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

On Xbox, players averaged about 20 hours per week, earning it the top-ranked spot. It ranked second on PlayStation, with Path of Exile pulling ahead, but each player still averaged 22 hours. Piscatella also revealed that Crimson Desert is now in the top 20 charts when it comes to total weekly active players on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Keep in mind that this is just the average per user – some may have put in far more time than others. It makes sense considering Pearl Abyss’s action-adventure offers a massive world to explore, combining elements from Red Dead Redemption 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and more. Plus, there’s just so much to see and a compelling combat system.

That momentum has pushed Crimson Desert to sell over four million copies since launch, with the developer expected to announce five million sales soon. Meanwhile, patches continue to flow, delivering numerous improvements. Check out the latest here.

It’s even more ridiculous when you consider its predecessor hit 1.5 million sales about two months after release (that too after spending nearly two years in early access). Which isn’t to say that Crimson Desert struggled, despite a spectrum of reviews and a “Mixed” rating at launch. It reportedly sold almost two million copies on Steam last month, with Elliott previously alleging that it crossed $200 million revenue across all platforms.

As for Resident Evil Requiem, it reportedly sold 1.2 million copies in March, resulting in $70 million in revenue (with total sales on Steam now seemingly at 2.9 million). Capcom confirmed over two weeks after launch that the survival horror sequel had sold over six million copies, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that total is even higher now.

Nevertheless, with Pragmata out in the coming weeks, the company could be gearing up for another smash hit on Steam. It’s available on April 30th and also coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2, after recently going gold.

Previously, it offered 240 slots, but this wasn’t sufficient, especially as players’ stock of materials and weapons piled up. The latest patch increases the maximum to 1,000, though it’s tied to your expansion of the Howling Hill Camp. Better get on improving things for your fellow Greymanes, pronto, if you want to benefit from hundreds of additional storage slots.

Other notable additions include an Abyss Nexus in Pailune, a new armor set and helmet for cats to don when venturing into battle, and new movement controls. If you prefer the original method of sprinting, be it on foot or horseback, you can now select Classic. Those who prefer holding the button to sprint can stick to Basic, which has been adjusted so as not to deplete your stamina while on horseback.

And for those who wanted to toggle the visibility of helms and hoods, the new Headgear Visibility toggle has you covered.

Check out some of the more notable changes and additions below, and the full details here. Crimson Desert is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, and has sold over four million units.

Patch Notes Version 1.02.00

Content

• Depending on your progress with the Greymane camp expansion, the capacity of your private storage can now be increased from 240 slots up to a maximum of 1000 slots.
• Through the expansion of your camp, which consists of 5 stages in total, you can expand your private storage as follows:
  – Start with 240 slots
  – First camp expansion +100 slots
  – Second camp expansion +100 slots
  – Third camp expansion +100 slots
  – Fourth camp expansion +100 slots
  – Final camp expansion +360 slots
• Added an Abyss Nexus in Pailune.
• Improved the visibility of explosive barrels when using the “Light Reflection” skill or when shining the lantern on them.
• Fixed an issue with combat missions, where comrades would not return until the mission timer expired if the mission was completed before the time limit.
• Fixed an issue where the Abyss puzzle state would reset when viewing detailed information of nodes via the map “Details” menu while in the Abyss.
• Fixed an issue where the character would become invisible if an Abyss Artifact was obtained before the Abyss completion cutscene played.
• Fixed an issue where the skills Healing Force Palm and Aerial Force Palm were also reset when resetting all skills.
• Changed the designs of certain gimmick monsters.
• Added 1 new armor set and helmet for cats.
• Improved Abyss Skybridge Gates so that restored Gates can be teleported to. (This change was applied in Patch 1.01.00)
• Fixed an issue where the bank investment refresh time would remain stuck in the “Refreshing” state and not update. (Added: 2026/04/04 05:00 UTC)